One of the important things to note about Harold Ford's quasi-maybe-this-is-happening run for the Senate seat in New York currently occupied by Kirsten Gillibrand is that it is one of the most uncalled-for candidacies in recent memory.
Ford basically decided one day, out of the blue, to announce, "Hey, maybe I am a contender in this Senate race, for some reason!" On that score, Alex Pareene made a good point, yesterday:
Harold Ford's problem was that he announced his candidacy himself, then claimed to be answering the call of desperate people yearning for his leadership in these trying times. It sounded phony, especially because the only people he could name behind the supposed drumbeat were Bloomberg cronies and Democratic fundraisers of the Upper East Side. Working the happy hour crowd at the Regency is not quite the Eugene Debs write-in campaign.
Politico's Ben Smith noted today that, somewhat retroactively, a "Draft Ford" website went up online. On that site, visitors are asked to "SIGN THE PETITION" to "Demand a strong, independent voice for New York." As you might expect, things are not going well. As of now, the petition has attracted only 23 signatures. And here they are!
Anonymous, Out of State
Erik H. Gordon, New York's 14th district
David Graber, New York's 8th district
Vincent Tortorella, Out of State
David Ward, New York's 14th district
christina wagner, 8, 12
Adam Hertzog, 8, 15, 14
mitch golden, Out of State
Anonymous, 8, 14
Anonymous, Out of State
Anonymous, 8, 15, 14, 16
kara gannon, New York's 8th district
Joshua Birkenhauer, Out of State
Anonymous, Out of State
Adam Lipson, 8, 12, 14
Deuce Bagg, New York's 8th district
Thor Valdmanis, New York's 14th district
Ukant B. Zerius, New York's 14th district
Terri A. Macksoud, Out of State
Mike Hunt, New York's 10th district
Ima Hogg, 8, 14
Andrew Carden, New York's 21st district
Anonymous, New York's 14th district
It's pretty sad when you cannot even generate enough interest in your campaign to garner more than four prank signatures. That's okay, though, I'm sure that any minute now, David Broder will lavish praise on this gangbusters candidacy.
UPDATE: I have no way of verifying the authenticity of this, but I've since received an email from someone who has claimed to have put up the site who tells me, contra Ben Smith, that it went live "about 12 hours" ago. "Not a bad start," says the emailer. They are up to 29 signatures right now. "Farold Hoarde" says hello!
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